(I) False attribution of a conclusion to a reliable source: the Goebbels diary

1. On page 611 of Goebbels: Mastermind of the 'Third Reich', Irving claims that Goebbels later admitted he had been on the verge of a nervous breakdown during 9-10 November. In fact the diary entry cited by Irving, for 17 January 1939, makes no reference whatsoever to the events of 9-10 November. Rather, Goebbels was concerned with his mental state in January 1939. 'I am close to a nervous breakdown', he wrote, using the present tense.141 Goebbels at this time was deeply concerned with a serious crisis in his marriage, which was also undermining his political standing.142 This is clearly a deliberately false attribution of the conclusion that Goebbels was worried about the fact that (as Irving would have it) Hitler disapproved of his actions on 9-10 November to a source that refers to a different date and makes no mention of any disapproval by Hitler of anything Goebbels did at all.